Introduction

Downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, in the mid 1940’s was a bustling metropolis for a boy of 7 just away from the farm and ranch community where he was born. My father, a cook and cowboy by trade, had just started as one of the first cooks for the Casa Manana restaurant in 1947. He moved us to an apartment on Ohio Street, right across from the Gem Theater, between 7th and 8th Streets. It’s here that we would stay for the next three years. The Gem Theater became a magic palace for a young mind. But it had to share that distinction with the rest of the magic that was Wichita Falls. I attended San Jacinto and Carrigan elementary schools, as well as Reagan Junior High, and belonged to the Boys Club on 6th Street. Please join, and share your stories and pictures through a Guest Blog, of early Wichita Falls - or your home town. Contact me at fadingshadows40@gmail.com or leave a comment. We could use old pictures of movie houses, drive-in theaters, and other nostalgic pictures related to our youths.

Monday, September 21, 2015

The eighth
pulp-style adventure in the Hollywood Cowboy Detectives series has been
released on Amazon.com.
The Kindle edition of Mystery of the Kidnapped Cowboy is currently available
from Amazon for 99 cents.

It’s winter
in 1938 and Republic Pictures has sent studio flack Sean “Curly” Woods to
Iverson Ranch where The Lone Ranger Rides Again is being filmed. The star of
that 15-chapter serial, Bob Livingston, is unhappy that the studio replaced him
with John Wayne on his long-running series, The Three Mesquiteers. And his
unhappiness has led to disruptive behavior. Curly’s assignment is to rein in
the disgruntled star so the production can stay on budget, while keeping all
negative news away from the press.

“Piece of
cake,” Woods said. But then he finds Livingston’s hotel room trashed, blood on
the floor and a ransom note that states if the police become involved, the star
of The Lone Ranger Rides Again will bite the dust.

Veteran
western-film villain Glenn Strange joins Woods and studio chauffeur Nick Danby
in investigating the kidnapping of the star at Iverson Ranch. An old friend of
Curly has taken a job at the ranch only to become a victim of a
pitchfork-wielding villain. As time is running out for Livingston, the
Hollywood Cowboy Detectives ride the range of the San Fernando Valley while
tracking the kidnappers.

Once again,
the cowboy investigators discover gun-blazing action is the only way to bring
justice to the old west of the 1930s.

The author,
Darryle Purcell, who is a former political cartoonist, illustrates all
adventures of the Hollywood Cowboy Detectives in the style of the pulps of the
1930s. Currently available from Amazon are Mystery at Movie Ranch, Mystery of
the Murdered Badman, Mystery of the Arizona Dragon, Mystery of the Stuntman’s
Ghost, Mystery of the Matinee Murders, Mystery of the Man of the Mist, Mystery
of the Alien Banshee and Mystery of the Kidnapped Cowboy. Paperback editions of
the Hollywood Cowboy Detectives are also available from Amazon.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

The Man From Planet X. I remember watching this great
old movie at the State Theater in Wichita Falls back in 1951. Such a fantastic
film for its time, and the alien was one of the best conceived for the period.
A small humanoid, wearing a space helmet, and looking completely alien. I loved
it. Margaret Field was the mother of Sally Field (The Flying Nun on television).

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Tarzan. Here is the cover of
one of the great Tarzan novels. I remember watching Johnny Weissmuller as
Tarzan and Jungle Jim at the Gem Theater in Wichita Falls, and loved the films.
It wasn’t until I was 23 and stationed in France that a fella I worked with got
me interested in the novels of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I loved them
too. But every time I see a Tarzan book I’m reminded of those Saturday Matinees
at the Gem Theater in the 40s.